Kansas State, Oregon top BCS standings; Irish third

Butch Dill/Associated Press
Auburn coach Gene Chizik, with quarterbackJonathan Wallace on Saturday, is confident he's the right man for the 2-8 Tigers.

NEW YORK — Kansas State and Oregon are on course to play for the BCS national championship.

After Alabama was upset by Texas A&M, the new BCS standings have the Wildcats (.9674) first and the Ducks (.9497) second.

Notre Dame (.9396) is third, not too far behind, but most likely in need of a loss by Oregon or Kansas State to reach the title game Jan. 7 in Miami.

"These teams are in their order and the only way that order changes is if somebody gets beat," said Jerry Palm, of CBS Sports and collegebcs.com.

As for Alabama's run at three championships in four seasons, and the Southeastern Conference's string of six straight BCS titles, both need help to continue.

Five SEC teams follow Alabama in the standings: Georgia, Florida, LSU, Texas A&M and South Carolina. But it would take a couple of upsets to give the SEC champion a shot to reach the BCS title game.

Kansas State is second in both BCS polls — the coaches' and Harris — and in the computer rankings. The Wildcats have two games left, at Baylor on Saturday and home against Texas on Dec. 1, the day of most of the conference championship games.

Oregon is first in the both polls and fourth in the computer ratings. The Ducks have two more regular-season games, against Stanford on Saturday and the next week at Oregon State. They can clinch the Pac-12 North and a spot in the conference title game with a win against Stanford. If they get there, the Ducks would play UCLA or Southern California in the league title game.

"Notre Dame is not going to jump (Oregon and Kansas State) without their help," Palm said. "They're way too far behind in the polls. The voters are not on board with Notre Dame."

Developments

Ducks on top: Oregon is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll as Alabama gave up the top spot after a loss to Texas A&M.

The Ducks have 45 of 60 first-place votes. Kansas State is No. 2 with 14 first-place votes. Notre Dame is third and received one first-place vote.

The Crimson Tide, which had been No. 1 for 10 straight weeks, dropped to fourth after a 29-24 loss to the Aggies in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday.

Texas A&M moved up six spots to No. 9.

No. 25 Kent State is ranked for first time since Nov. 5, 1973.

Vols may lose LB: Sophomore Tennessee linebacker Curt Maggitt could be done for the season because of the knee injury he suffered Saturday in a four-overtime, 51-48 loss to Missouri.

Maggitt had to be helped from the field and left on crutches, favoring his right knee.

If Maggitt can't return, senior Willie Bohannon would be the top candidate for more snaps.

Chizik confident: Auburn coach Gene Chizik says he feels confident he can turn the football program around.

The Tigers have slipped from a national title team two years ago to 2-8 and winless in the Southeastern Conference after Saturday night's 38-0 shellacking by No. 5 Georgia.

Chizik said Sunday the way this season has gone "prompts you to really go back and start all over and evaluate" every aspect of the program.

He says that's what he would do. Asked if that means he's confident he can turn the program around, Chizik responded: "That's very accurate."

Playoff format to be discussed: Conference commissioners will meet Monday in New York, hoping to decide whether to have a six- or seven-game format for the new college football playoff.

Support has waned for adding a seventh marquee bowl game to the semifinal rotation. But there is still a strong possibility some automatic entry to the system will be given to the Big East and four other conferences now without a high-level bowl of their own.

"Whether it's seven games or six games, the commitment to access that was established at the Chicago meeting, I'm confident, is still in place," Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said Sunday from Denver, where the commissioners' regular meeting with the BCS presidential oversight committee was held.

ESPN.com reported two weeks ago the addition of a seventh game to the format was becoming unlikely. Big East commissioner Mike Aresco responded there was still support for it among the commissioners.

Leach under fire: Washington State president Elson Floyd has called for a review of claims of abusive behavior by coach Mike Leach and his staff toward players by wide receiver Marquess Wilson.

The decision by Floyd comes one day after Wilson quit the team. Wilson said he left the program because of the actions of Leach and his staff. Wilson said the new staff has "preferred to belittle, intimidate and humiliate us," and that included physical abuse.

Leach is in his first season as Washington State coach after spending two years out of coaching. He spent 10 seasons as Texas Tech coach before being fired in 2009 after claims of mistreatment from a player.